[Nottingham] Wot?! No BBC TV?!! (iPlayer rss feeds turned off...)

[Jason Irwin]

On 03/11/14 11:56, Martin wrote:
> So, my understanding is that all "3rd-party" apps/utilities for
> viewing iPlayer via rss feeds are now abandoned. That includes
> consumer bought devices such as TVs and 'set top boxes', and FLOSS
> systems such as XBMC, MythTV, get_iplayer, and whatever else that used
> to use the BBC rss feed for iPlayer.
Any "Smart" device that can't do an over-the-air update will be busted.
If they can't have their firmware updated, they will remain busted.
Even if they can be updated, I don't hold out much hope for OEMs issuing
updates expect for the most recent and top-of-the-line models.
I also don't expect the average person to know how to flash their TV or
it being easy.
Perhaps reject recent ones under the "Sale of Goods Act" as not working?

I think a patch for "get_iplayer" is in-progess (scraping the web site;
which works but kinda sucks).

> That has just got to add up to a country load of unhappy campers and a
> lot of distressed product support for all manner of viewers...
Keep the OEMs happy - go buy a new TV.
Welcome to the future. :-(

> My view is someone dropped the ball on that one!
I think it was deliberate. The BBC want you to use the official iPlayer
application/site, assuming you can.
The BBC claim they can't support all the different platforms. I think
this is due to BBC management fundamentally misunderstanding how the
Internet works.
All they need to do is provide a stable API. Let the community provide
the rest (iPlayer could be a reference implementation).
Even where the BBC do support a platform, it's often broken (e.g.
iPlayer on VirginMedia does not let you watch films!)

There is going to be one unintentional consequence of this unannounced
change.
Sites offering copyright infringing material will provide a better
service, people will use those instead.
The BBC just pointed the shotgun at their own feet and let loose with
both barrels.

-- 
╔═════════════╦══════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ Jason Irwin ║ OpenPGP (GPG/PGP) Public Key: 0xD0C592B1 ║
║             ║ Import from hkp://pgp.mit.edu            ║
╚═════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╝